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Labels Push for a Unified DRM Standard

Posted by michael on from the one-drm-to-bind-them-all dept.

thejoelpatrol writes "Bad news for Apple fanatics but good news for all the crazy slashdotters who want an iPod but feel dirty using Apple's DRM: the labels are getting together and insisting that online stores standardize their DRM methods. Being the providers of the music, the labels clearly wield a lot of power, but so does Apple: without iTunes, the online music business is next to nothing. Will Apple give in? Not if they can help it -- they're on top of the world. Before anyone messes it up, AAC is an open format, while the Fairplay DRM standard is not."

3 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Ultimately, no DRM is the best DRM. by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Even though I do understand that content creators wish to protect themselves I believe that no DRM is the way to go.

    The main thing is to focus on having a well working and simple delivery model, and to make sure the content isn't over-priced. DRM ultimately pretty useless, since it can always be broken eventually. If it's simpler to buy the content from a reputable store than getting it over P2P the model will work.

    Tim O'Reilly wrote and excellent piece on the subject in 2002, and it still applies today: Piracy is Progressive Taxation, and Other Thoughts on the Evolution of Online Distribution

    PS. I'm sure a lot of you will disagree, but at least I can claim to be a content creator myself...

    --
    .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
  2. Apple is fucked by melted · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Record labels have nothing to lose here. Revenues they get from Apple are laughable.

    Apple, however, can't:
    1. Make tracks more expensive - nobody's gonna buy them
    2. Share the DRM format - bye bye iTunes revnues
    3. Implement stronger DRM - nobody will buy tracks
    4. Tell the record labels to fuck off - where are they gonna get the music then?

    I think they're royally fucked.

  3. Re:It might not be good for Apple to fight this by midifarm · · Score: 5, Interesting
    First of all 90% of all studios are completely independent of any record label. It's the labels and the RIAA that is concerned with DRM. I'm not even sure the artists themselves care about DRM, they just want to be fairly compensated for their artwork.

    what it will take for all of this to get resolved will be something similar to what Peter Gabriel is trying to develop. Perhaps a union of sorts to bring the labels to their knees. For the most part, other than distribution and PR the labels aren't needed for anything. If musicians learned to think and operate for themselves, this might be a moot point.

    A wonderful example is Ani DiFranco. Whether you like her music is irrelevent. She's 100% self promoted, from albums to concerts. It's her production and her money and it's worked out very well.

    I'm just waiting for an established giant to buck the system. When U2 or Aerosmith abandons their label and promotes their upcoming release via online distribution only (George Michael is doing this) the others will follow suit. Just hire a PR agency and collect a check, only a much larger one.

    Peace